No previous research has quantified and compared the costs and outcomes between total knee replacement (TKR) patients who have differing lengths of hospital stay following surgery.

In new research presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), investigators identified Medicare patients who had undergone TKR between 1997 and 2009. The patients were separated into the following groups: outpatient, 1-day inpatient, 2-day inpatient, 3- or 4-day inpatient (standard of care), and 5 plus day inpatient. Investigators reviewed outcomes for the patient groups including annual payments, mortality, readmission, revision and common complications.

After adjusting for various factors, the results were compared at 90 days, one year, and two years after surgery. Compared to patients who had the standard of care 3-4 day hospital stay, the incremental payments for osteoarthritis costs at 2 years were - $6,964 (lower) for the outpatient group, - $3,327 for patients hospitalized for one day, -$1,681 for two days, and +$1,159 for five plus days. At 90 days, the outpatient group had less pain and stiffness compared to the standard care (3-4 day) group, but had a higher risk for mortality, readmission and dislocation.

Investigators recommend that hospitals that choose to implement shorter stay protocols for TKR patients, do so gradually and only with appropriate and sufficient capabilities.

Related Stories

New research presented at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) highlights the benefits of total knee replacement (TKR) in elderly patients with osteoarthritis, including a lower probability ...

Poor emotional health and morbid obesity are associated with less functional gain following total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. In the new study, "Can Telephone Support During Post-TKR Rehabilitation Improve Post-op Function: ...

Patients who have had total joint replacement (TJR) are expected to return to their physician's office or clinic regularly for routine follow-up care. In a new study presented today at the 2012 Annual Meeting of the American ...

The costs that hospitals incur in treating patients vary widely and do not appear to be strongly associated either with the quality of care patients receive or their risk of dying within 30 days, according to a report in ...

Recommended for you

Inflammation - the body's response to damaging stimuli - may have a protective effect against cardiovascular disease, according to a study published today in the journal Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology.

Progressive high-impact training improved the patellar cartilage quality of the postmenopausal women who may be at risk of osteoporosis (bone loss) as well as at risk of osteoarthritis. This was found out in the study carry ...

(HealthDay)—Usage of nondrug, nonoperative interventions in community-dwelling individuals with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) is low, according to research published in the February issue of Arthritis Ca ...

(HealthDay)—The prevalence of fibromyalgia varies with the different sets of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) classification criteria, according to a study published in the February issue of Arthritis & ...

(HealthDay)—For patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) 10-year risk score does not improve identification of those with elevated ...

Smoking impairs the response to biological drugs used to treat inflammatory arthritis affecting the lower back, known as axial spondyloarthritis, or AxSpA, for short, reveals research published online in ...

User comments

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.